Paupers Ladder: Rapid Review
Information:
Mechanics: Exploration, Set Collectio
Player Age: 13+ Player Count: 2 - 4 playersTime to Play: 60 - 90 Minutes
Game Designer and Artist: Paul StapletonPublisher: Bedsit GamesYear Published: 2019BGG Weight: 2.13Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.
Player Age: 13+
Game Designer and Artist: Paul Stapleton
Rundown:
Paupers Ladder is an exploration game, where the map will be changed as players explore five different sceneries. These are beaches, forests, mountains, mines, and swamps, all with different decks.
Each deck contains events that are either one-off activations or that remain at the location such as: limited or permanent encounters; ingredients; or hazards, like enemies to be defeated for gold/ingredients/equipment/trophies. The first player to complete three virtues is the winner.
Virtues:
The virtues include:
- Bravery: discarding trophies equal to 30 or 40 (two players).
- Magnificence: Discarding one dragon trophy.
- Knowledge: Learn five recipes (maximum amount).
- Fellowship: Complete three quests.
Active Turn:
During a player's turn, they begin by moving their bird and pauper, where some locations only respond to either a bird or pauper as shown by a meeple or bird image in the left corner of the card.
The bird can only move one region, whereas the pauper can move one for free but must pay a gem for each one afterwards. Players will move into either Cities or Wildzones belonging to different regions. In a wildzone, the player will have to stop if there is a hazard, otherwise they can either; explore and draw a new card if there is an open spot, or they can encounter a face-up card, resolving either an event/hazard, or pick up an ingredient. Ingredients can only be picked up if there is an un-learned recipe that it can be allocated to.
Hazards:
Hazards require the player to stop and explore for the turn. 
To resolve a hazard is easy, simply draw an outcome card and if the value is equal to or greater than the value on the hazard, gain the hazard as a success.
Certain outcome cards have special effects and may allow the player to draw a second outcome or increase in strength.
The hazard can be gained as one of three options; the equipment/ingredient shown in the bottom right, gems on the bottom left (discarding the hazard card), or as a trophy. Some quests will need you to discard certain hazard types or they can be used towards completing the trophy virtue.
If you fail, some hazards will have negative effects that will immediately resolve.
When fighting hazards only the pauper can use the equipment, and only one combat equipment can be used per hazard encounter (shown by the sword symbol in the top right).
Cities:
Cities allow players to perform the following;
- Buy one equipment/glory from the shop, where a glory is the more powerful equipment.
- Sell one equipment/glory to the shop at half the value rounded up
- Complete a quest. A quest sometimes has the requirement to be completed away from the city but the quest with the city icon has to be completed at the city.
Progress:
The game may feel like there is a long way to go as you journey across the map but as players race to complete their first virtue, the game rockets towards the end. This is because there is a lot of progress in both the characters and the encounters that fill the map. It becomes a race to gain what you need, with some of these progressions coming from equipment, your bird, and learned recipes.
Equipment:
Players can hold an inventory of five items, inclusive of any equipment or glory. Each of these items also have a symbol on the right-hand side that shows where it can be used once, twice, only during combat, or a limitless amount of times. Each player will begin the game with their own unique equipment.
Aviary:
At the start of the game each player has two birds to choose from. During the game as a free action the player can spend four gems to flip the bird, unlocking a new ability that will assist the pauper in their quest.
Recipes:
Recipes only need two out of the three ingredients in order to be learned. Each recipe also shows (via background colour) in which regions the ingredients can be commonly found. Once an ingredient is learned the player will draw four recipes and choose one to be added as an unlearned recipe. The learned recipe will unlock a new ability or ongoing benefit for the player.
Interaction:
There isn't a high level of interaction between players, however, there is a shared atmosphere of exploration as players slowly reveal permanent events, strong hazards, or essential ingredients. This is an exploration game at its core, and as players are growing the board state with two characters each turn, it certainly succeeds in that atmosphere. When the first dragon appears in the game you bet there is tension as each player races to defeat it, gaining that coveted virtue.
Determination:
- Lots of progression for your character in multiple ways.
- Speedy progression as players use two characters each turn.
Paupers Ladder, with its easy gameplay and whimsical nature, captures what an exploration game should; excitement and adventure. Players are moving both their pauper and bird every turn, whereby exploring the regions at a rapid rate. Each player has the clear objective of completing three out of five virtues that may seem hard at first but, as players progress and build strength/ability in their character, the game actually wraps up at a good rate. If you are looking for an exploration game with an immersive and fantastical atmosphere, I highly recommend Paupers Ladder. The gameplay is intuitive and you will be enthralled with how the game map develops.
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